Jesus Film Bears Fruit

by   Glenn A. Brown                                                                                                                                    Vol. VIII, No. 1, January 1995

A film titled simply Jesus is being effectively used around the globe to bring thousands of persons to faith in Christ. Our Foreign Mission Board, along with hundreds of other groups, is using the film prepared by Campus Crusade for Christ to attract unsaved people to the Gospel.

At a recent meeting in Oklahoma City, Don Kammerdiener, executive vice president of the FMB made the following observation:

"For some reason that only God knows, the Jesus f1lm has proved to be the most effective evangelistic tool for cultures all over the world. And we have a very nice arrangement with the Campus Crusade people. We tell them where we are going to start churches and they provide the film for us in the language of those particular people.

"Recently, we had 200-300 volunteers go to the little country of Albania with the intention of showing the film in 400 villages. I am pleased to tell you that, even though that activity occurred only this past summer, there are now 83 new congregations – small congregations of believers – that have come into existence in the land where the last government said 'we will be the first atheistic nation in the world.'"

As of Oct. 1, 1994, the Jesus film has been produced in 308 languages with 159 more in process of translation. Thus far, 606 million people have viewed the film in 216 countries, with 38 million recorded decisions, excluding showings on television, in theaters, and through video rentals.

In the United States, the Jesus Video Project is being used to share the Gospel with neighbors and unsaved friends. A church may use an evangelism strategy whereby it orders a quantity of videos at a deeply discounted price for distribution as a free gift to families that agree to view it. Teams of volunteers distribute the video door-to-door or to unsaved neighbors and follow up with a brief survey to discover those who have made professions of faith. Since it is a free gift, it is an attractive entry to many homes. Limited test data shows about two-thirds of those offered the video will accept it. In that data, out of 1,000 persons to view the video within the first two weeks of delivery, 160 prayed to receive Christ.

A Christian friend gave me a copy a few weeks ago. Filmed by Warner Brothers, the beautiful photography of the Holy Land is impressive. In the text, Jesus speaks only Scripture found in the Gospel of Luke. The video includes an invitation to pray to receive Christ as Savior.

Church groups interested in inquiring further may call the Jesus Video Project at 800-587-7765.

[Reprinted from the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger. Glenn Brown is Messenger editor.]